


Eros

by donnatroy



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DC Animated Universe, DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, F/M, Hades and Persephone AU, Love, yall ill add more tags when its not 11pm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-09-10 20:36:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8938195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donnatroy/pseuds/donnatroy
Summary: He doesn't mean to fall in love, not in the slightest. You don't mean to either, but you accept it easier than him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've tweaked the myth a little bit and I really should not be uploading this so late

You see him in the meetings between the others. You don’t talk to him, you’re far from the importance that he is but you can see the quick glances that he gives you when he is bored with the pandering of the other gods. They’re quick and intense and you find yourself enchanted by his blue eyes.

That’s as much as you get before he goes home to his world, the underworld.

They say the reason why he was gifted that realm was because he had once been mortal and died but came back at the will of the gods, other than that, you know nothing of him but you wished you knew him.

Your mother, she tries to deter you from the men of the court, saying that taking care of the earth is more important than any man’s love could ever be, more enriching, less heartbreaking. You start to think she’s right when you look down at the mortals. You can see hatred and violence in some love, which couldn’t possibly be love yet they called it that anyway. But you can see the beauty of it, see the comfort and support that was offered with their love for each other. You might want it.

Maybe you were just in love with the idea of love.

* * *

Jason found himself completely vexed by you. There was nothing special that made you stand out against the others, you and your mother were more… modest in your dressings compared to the others that adorned embellished and shiny robes, something that he found himself wearing. He was king of the underworld after all, he had to keep up appearances.

His brothers and even his father had urged him to marry, something he had no interest in at the moment, he was after all, busy trying to keep his realm intact and in order. He had no time for such things he felt as unnecessary and unworthy of.

It’s uneasy the way he feels when he sees you in these meetings. He’d never been quite interested in them until you had come around not too long ago. As much as he knew that he needed to be here, to do his job, the ramblings of the others seemed to drone on for much longer than necessary but you sitting across from him, head resting in your hand as you watched the others talk, kept him in focus even if it was on you.

He kept himself distracted of course, when he figured that you would not want a thing to do with him- not that he could blame you, you were something else compared to him. He was darkness in all ways possible but you brought life to the world, just like your mother, he only watched over the dead and rightfully so.

Each minute that ticks by is just a minute closer escaping this hell and going back to the oasis of his home, that’s what kept him going and maybe, just maybe it was the sound of your voice when you protested against the idea of letting the mortals have a drought because they had forgotten to lay a feast out for one of the more insignificant gods.

“Shush, daughter.” Your mother grabbed one of your shoulders and pulled you back to sit down in your seat, “We must do their bidding.”

He watched carefully the exchange between you and your mother, trying to hear the hushed whispers shared and the dirty look you shot over your shoulder towards the more powerful gods.

It was a funny thing to see the flowery goddess of vegetation stare at them like you were plotting their individual deaths thoroughly.

“This is ridiculous.”

For a moment, he thought that maybe you weren’t so different after all.


	2. Chapter 2

You’ve never seen him outside of the meetings and you know that it’s because he works hard, just like you do.

On the rare occasion that he ever does ventures up out of the underworld, it’s usually for meetings, not for the parties that the all father hosts- no, he doesn’t play, he is serious in his line of work, he has to be.

You hum as you prune the roses that seem to brighten in hue at your touch. Your mother stands off to the edge of your garden, talking to another god- the one that brings light. You’re sure because the halo that surrounds his figure is brighter than that of the others.

Having this time to yourself brings most of your joy, even if it is limited. You spend so much time under your mother’s watch that these few moments were a chance for you to actually feel free to breathe. It felt right being on your own, even if it was only meters away from her. This was better than nothing.

You’d never understood her protectiveness of you. Yes, she was your mother and you figured that to some degree, this was a natural inclination for her wanting you to be safe, but to have you never leave her side? That couldn’t be normal. It seemed to be too much as you watched the other mothers and their children on Earth. They were much laxer with letting their children test their boundaries as they grew older.

Almost six millennia you had been alive, old enough to be considered a mature goddess and yet, you were still here, trapped under her ever-watchful eye.

“You’re Demeter’s daughter, aren’t you?” a familiar voice breaks off your thoughts, dragging you out from your mind.

You turn and see Jason- more famously known as Hades to the mortals. His skin doesn’t shine quite like the others, it’s grey, almost a milky white and it’s cold. There’s no glow that surrounds him and you wonder if that is from his time spent in the underworld. He has his hands clasped in front of him, almost as a promise that he will do no harm- after all, he does have quite the reputation when it comes to his inclination for violence. There’s no way for him to hide from that one.

“I- yes.” You clear your throat, standing up to face him head on.

He doesn’t speak for a moment, his bottom lip caught between his teeth as he thinks of what to say to you. Jason has never had the problem of speaking with people, he was good at that but something about you was changing that and he hated it. This was weakness and the king of the dead could not show weakness.

“Your garden is beautiful…” he reaches a hand out and touches one of the bright, pink roses to the bush next to him. The color slowly faded and the petals shriveled up, wilting and falling off. You could only watch in horror as one of your flowers died.

He didn’t really realize what was happening but the look on your face was enough to snap him out of it. Jason practically jumped back, bring his hand up to his chest.

“I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

“It’s- it is an easy fix, no reason to be upset.” you say but it isn’t really for him, more than anything, it’s for yourself. You don’t want to show a part of you so vulnerable to a man you hardly know.

He doesn’t speak while you fix the mess of a rose. His ears and cheeks ignite with heat as watches you, his skin returning to a normal color. Jason never meant to do that, he didn’t even think that he was capable of doing that, he was sure he had nothing that he could do like the others- bring harvest or light to the world- only passing judgement on the souls that passed through his realm.

He wants his feet to move, to take him away from this moment, to _flee_. His feet had other plans.

He’d thought that this might have gone better but this- this was definitely not getting off on the right foot.

You don’t know what to say to him.

* * *

“Do not go near that one,” she whispers to you when she sees you gazing across the room at him, “He can’t be trusted.”

“How do you know that?” you ask, features knitted up and creating creases in your smooth skin. You wonder for a moment if she had seen you and him talk in your garden.

“He was mortal. Now he walks among us like this is his place. It is not.”

“Mother… How can you judge him if you do not know him,” you spare a glance his way and met his eyes. He’d already been looking your way and no doubt heard the conversation between you and your mother. His lips curl into a smile and he waves at you before turning his attention back to the committee before him. The heat blooms across your cheeks and ears as your mother snaps her fingers, demanding your attention.

“Do not talk to him. I fear what he might do to you.”

“Okay, mother.”

Jason wishes he was subtler in his movements so as to not attract the attention of his brothers.

“You like her?” the oldest- Dick- whispered, leaning in close to him.

“That’s none of your business.”

“With how you’re staring, it seems like you’re inviting everyone to make it their business. Especially Demeter.”

Dick chuckles when he hears Jason huff and hums in response, sitting back in his seat, a small smirk playing at his lips and he looks between Jason and an oblivious you. It’s funny, he thinks, that Jason would want someone that was the exact opposite of him. He may object to the idea that he wanted you but it was clear by the look on Jason’s face as he looked at you, eyes hazed over with something. Maybe it was nothing- just an infatuation to pass the time, someone he would eventually just push away.

If there was one thing he knew Jason was good at besides passing fair judgement upon the souls of the dead, it was pushing others away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into Jason's past life before he was known as Hades

_He could never stand the summers, they were always too dry and humid, his mother said it was because he didn’t worship the gods enough, Jason thought that was a load of crap. He didn’t like the feeling of his clothes sticking to his skin nor did he care for the stench of the city. Everyone worked, no matter how unbearable the conditions were, they worked to survive. That’s how it went in the hellish city he lived in._

_Nights were worse though. That was when the criminals came out, crawling through the darkness like the snakes they were, looking for people to feed off, wanting to gain their hard-earned livings. He never cared for them until he was in their shoes, even then it was just an understanding of what they had to do, it didn’t make it right._

_He didn’t expect to be the on this end of robbery but it was just like working in the market. You worked to live. Trouble with this was that there wasn’t any of the honor held by these people, not like those that actually worked in the market. It made sense to him the longer he had to steal._

_There couldn’t be any honor, you’d just end up dead._

* * *

 

He comes around your garden more often as the weeks pass, just sitting in the shade, watching you work, never saying more than a greeting and a farewell to you.

His presence is… enjoyable, soothing almost.

You don’t mind it at all, unlike when your mother watched you but you guessed that it was just the difference in the situation. He watched in fascination, never a judgmental look in his eyes, instead they were wide, taking in the sight of how fluidly you worked on the plants. It was something you weren’t used to. Demeter always had something to correct you on.

The silence is nice until he starts moving closer each day, slowly making his way toward you and beginning to ask you questions. You’d thought it weird that he would try to get so close, that he was spending so much time with you despite the fact that he had duties that he had once so strictly followed, never allowing for a moment of distraction, not even when the gods held parties, although, you don’t think he was invited to most.

He's careful not to touch any of the plants in your garden, mostly out of fear that it will unrepairable, the damage he might do. But that’s a silly thought, you could fix it, just like last time. Still, he just doesn’t want you to realize that he’s dangerous, that something so delicate as yourself should never be around him. That, he thinks, would actually be the end of it for him.

You can tell there is something off about him when he looks at you. You just can’t place it but that’s alright, you have eons to figure that out- well, if he still wants to be near you that far into the future.

It’s sad, you think, when you realize how impatient you get for his visits, constantly ticking down the minutes until his next visit.

You find it odd that he’d rather you call him Jason- a mortal name- rather than his god name but it makes you feel… warm almost to know that there’s something he trusts you, that he allows you to say that you’re sure few have the privilege of doing.

He doesn’t quite know why he’d trust you with this, it just felt right. Most of the other gods didn’t even know his mortal name. He much rather preferred Jason over Hades. But maybe the part of him that liked it was because he still wanted to retain the fact that he was mortal, that he had a life before this.

Jason still doesn’t know why Gaea had told Thanatos to not let him die like an animal in an alley, to let her take the boy into her care.

* * *

 

_He knows it’s a mistake as soon as he reaches into the vendors cart but it’s too late to stop, he’s already got one hand in and he can’t go back. So, he takes it, the little bag of money. Jason knows full well that this isn’t all that the vendor has but Jason didn’t need all of that, he just needed enough to buy the herbs at the apothecary._

_She’s been sick for months now and his father had left, not wanting anything more to do with them. Jason hates him for that._

_He takes care of her now, he does all he can because he cannot lose her too. Losing her would be the end of it._

_No matter how hard he tries, it’s not enough. He knows it’s going to happen. He knows that sooner or later she will be dead. Jason tries not to think about it._

_He rushes through the market place, looking over his shoulder for the vendor- who looks extremely pissed off and shit, he’s got a knife._

_Jason thinks quick, sliding beneath carts and zig-zagging through the crowd but he knows it won’t be worth much in the end, he stands out like a sore thumb. He’s the only one that looks like they haven’t bathed in a week, black hair matted to his scalp and forehead and clothes that have definitely seen better days, only being held up by pins and needles, stained with dirt and sweat._

_“Get back here, boy!” the vendor shouts at him before Jason slips into a small alley way, holding his breath in anticipation as the fat man runs right past his hiding spot._

_The back of his head presses against the wall, waiting for just a moment longer to be sure that he really was gone._


End file.
